Randy Pitchford tells Borderlands 4 players to “play a different game” if they’re not happy
Gearbox SoftwareGearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has continued to attract controversy over his comments regarding Borderlands 4’s optimization issues, stating fans should “get a refund” if they’re not happy.
The looter shooter sequel, released on September 12, has experienced a wave of negative reviews from players on Steam and elsewhere since launch, with thousands writing that they’ve experienced frequent crashes and other performance issues.
Gearbox released a stability patch for the game on September 13; however, many have continued to report issues and criticisms directly to Pitchford on X.
Randy Pitchford tells unhappy players to seek refunds
On September 16, Pitchford, replying to one user who stated they spent days getting Borderlands 4 running in an acceptable state and took issue with some of the CEO’s previous comments, said:
“You can do whatever you want. The game is the game. Please get a refund from Steam if you aren’t happy with it. You made an analogy to a vehicle. I would not put a Ferrari engine in a monster truck and expect it to drive like a Ferrari.”
After offering to help the user to “optimize” their game’s performance, Pitchford continued, “If you tell me about your specification, I can help you optimize your performance. I’m sorry you don’t like being told to use DLSS, but that is the way. If you’re not happy using the tools available to you to improve frame rate, and you’re not happy with the frame rate you have, you should play a different game.”
Pitchford is no stranger to courting controversy over his comments. In May, the public-facing exec apologized after stating that “real fans” should pay $80 for games and would find a way to do so.
